MasterCard Reports 40 per cent Growth in Prepaid Business

MasterCard Reports 40 per cent Growth in Prepaid
Business across Asia/Pacific, Middle East & Africa for
2013

Cross Border and E-commerce
Transactions Key Drivers for
Growth;China Presents Biggest
Opportunity for Further GrowthTo tweet this news, copy and paste
http://mstr.cd/1h24eSw to your Twitter handle with the
hashtag #MasterCardNZAuckland - 4 April, 2014– MasterCard reported a growth of 40 per
cent in gross dollar volume, or GDV, for its prepaid card
business across Asia/Pacific, Middle East & Africa (APMEA)
for 2013 (y-o-y). This strong growth was fuelled in part by
significant partnerships announced over the last couple of
years in the region, such as:

The momentum for
prepaid growth is expected to continue given the potential
for driving further financial inclusion in emerging markets
as well as the increasing cross border and e-commerce
transactions.

Emerging Markets: Hotbed of
InnovationAccording to Jason Tymms,
MasterCard’s Head of Prepaid, Asia/Pacific, Middle East &
Africa, “The needs in emerging markets differ greatly from
developed markets and this is proving to be a catalyst for
innovation. We find ourselves innovating to meet the most
basic of needs which is access to financial services,
especially for citizens who sit at the bottom of the
financial pyramid.”

In May last year, MasterCard,
in partnership with the Nigerian government, announced the
roll out of 13 million National Identity Cards with
MasterCard’s prepaid payment technology, the largest
formal electronic payment solution in Nigeria and the
broadest financial inclusion initiative of its kind in
Africa. When using the card as a prepaid payment tool,
cardholders can deposit funds on the card, receive social
benefits, pay for goods and services, withdraw cash and
engage in other financial transactions that are facilitated
by electronic payments.

In India, MasterCard is
launching a mobile companion prepaid card allowing Beam
Money consumers to move beyond basic utility payments by
connecting their existing mobile wallets to the world of
MasterCard acceptance and electronic payments, thus enabling
them to carry out e-commerce transactions, make fund
transfers, book movie or travel tickets.

In 2012,
MasterCard also worked with the State Government of
Chhattisgarh and the Central Bank of India to launch a
student prepaid card for the distribution of scholarships.
This resulted in the speedy disbursement of scholarships as
well as safety and convenience for students who received
payments through bank ATMs nationwide.

But according
to Tymms, innovation is not just happening in emerging
markets.

“In developed markets such as New
Zealand, MasterCard is innovating to meet different needs.
For example, MasterCard worked with Air New Zealand to
launch the OneSmart dual-faced loyalty and prepaid
card, a first in the world,” Tymms said.

One side
of the card is an Air New Zealand Airpoints loyalty card,
equipped with ePass technology that enables cardholders to
speed through domestic check-in. Meanwhile, on the other
side is a prepaid MasterCard that enables cardholders to
load up on foreign currencies as well as lock in the
exchange rates.

Similarly in Australia, MasterCard
together with Qantas launched the new Qantas Frequent Flyer
membership card with a new inbuilt feature, Qantas Cash™,
a prepaid facility which allows cardholders to store foreign
currency, access cash worldwide via ATM withdrawals, and
earn points on spending in Australia and overseas.

But it is not just consumers that are adopting the use
of travel prepaid cards. In India, SMEs in the IT services
industry especially, are providing travel prepaid cards to
their employees who need to travel for international
projects. Functioning as a means for paying for their
expenses during the term of the overseas stint, prepaid
cards also means easier tracking and reconciliation for the
SMEs.

The Rise of the China Traveller, and
Cross Border Potential“We are seeing the
biggest potential for prepaid growth come out of China given
it had the highest number of outbound tourists and
amount of overseas spending in the world last year.
Coupled with the Chinese’ higher purchasing power, this
presents an obvious need for electronic payments acceptance
when abroad and multi-currency travel prepaid cards such as
the MasterCard Cash Passport fit the bill as it takes away
the hassle and risk of carrying a lot of cash while also
enabling cardholders to lock in exchange rate at the time of
loading to avoid fluctuations,” Tymms added.

Officially the world's biggest spenders, Chinese’
spending on overseas travel increased 28 percent in the first nine months of
2013. In 2012, China became the largest outbound tourism
market with 83 million overseas trips, and last year, this
number grew even further to 97 million. It is expected that
this year, the number will top the 100 million mark, in what
will be a historic first – an amazing feat, considering
that this number was just 10 million in 2000.These kinds of numbers represent the enormous
opportunity MasterCard is seeing in the areas of cross
border transaction and China aside, across emerging markets
in Southeast Asia, India and Japan.

E-commerce is
also proving to be a key driver for prepaid growth.
According to MasterCard’s Online Shopping Survey,
besides China (97.8 per cent) which continues to have a
strong potential for making online purchases in the next six
months, Southeast Asian markets such as Vietnam (91.4 per
cent) and Thailand (84.2 per cent) are also showing great
potential in terms of respondents intending to make an
online purchase in the next six months.

About MasterCardMasterCard (NYSE: MA),
www.mastercard.com,is a technology company in the global payments
industry. We operate the world’s fastest payments
processing network, connecting consumers, financial
institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more
than 210 countries and territories. MasterCard’s products
and solutions make everyday commerce activities – such as
shopping, traveling, running a business and managing
finances – easier, more secure and more efficient for
everyone. Follow us on Twitter@MasterCardNews,
@MasterCardNZ,join the discussion
on the Cashless Pioneers Blog
and subscribefor the latest
news on the Engagement
Bureau

Prime Minister John Key says it is “not the government’s preferred option” to make a fresh capital injection into the troubled state-owned coal miner, Solid Energy, but dodged journalists’ questions at his weekly press conference on whether that might prove necessary... More>>

NZCU Baywide says that once it was found to have committed a breach of a former staff member’s privacy, it had attempted to resolve the matter... the censure and remedies for its actions taken almost three years ago are “severe” but accepted, and will hopefully draw a line under the matter. More>>

PayPal has ceased processing payments for Mega, the file storage and encryption firm looking to join the New Zealand stock market via a reverse listing of TRS Investments, amid claims it is not a legitimate cloud storage service. More>>

The New Zealand government's operating deficit was smaller than expected in the first six months of the financial year, as the consumption and corporate tax take rose ahead of forecast in December, having lagged estimates in previous months. More>>